‘Pick-up artist’ jailed for approaching girls and threatening them

A YouTube ‘pick-up artist’ could face jail for being threatening towards five girls he approached.

Adnan Ahmed, 38, posted videos of himself approaching various girls in public in Glasgow and Uddingston.

The dad-of one claimed he could show men how to have ‘sex with women in alleyways and public toilets’, saying it was all about the ‘mindset’.

But his behaviour came to the attention of police following an investigation by the BBC earlier this year.

Yesterday at Glasgow Sheriff Court, a jury found Ahmed guilty of acting in a threatening and abusive manner towards five girls between May 2016 and November last year.

One of the women, aged 21, broke down in court when she described how Ahmed followed her through Glasgow city centre in 2016 when she was 18.

She said: ‘He tried to pull me close to him so he could kiss me, so I pushed him away.

‘He put his hand on my cheek and other hand on my back and pulled me in.

‘He just had pure lust in his eyes.’

The court heard Ahmed also approached two schoolgirls – aged 16 and 17 – in a secluded lane in the small town of Uddingston in 2016.

The 17-year-old told jurors that he made her feel ‘uncomfortable’ after asking if she had was at school and had a boyfriend.

She said: ‘He asked me if I was married as I was wearing a ring but not on my wedding ring finger.

‘I said “no” and walked away.

‘He then asked for my number and wanted to know if I wanted to go for coffee – I said no.’

A 20-year-old female thought that Ahmed made her feel ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘intimidated’ on Buchanan Street in Glasgow in November last year.

She said: ‘He gave me a compliment and said that I looked like Kim Kardashian.

‘I said: “Whatever – is this a joke?”

‘As I watch (TV show) Impractical Jokers, I thought: “Where are the cameras?”

‘I think he thought it was a challenge to go out with me.’

Ahmed messaged her on Instagram and but she blocked him when he called her ‘racist’ for rejecting his advances.

Donna Armstrong, defending Ahmed, said her client didn’t want to cause ‘fear or alarm’.

Sheriff Lindsay Wood deferred sentence for reports until next month and Ahmed was remanded in custody.

After the verdict was announced, Police Scotland’s Det Insp Mark McLennan said: ‘The women Ahmed approached were subjected to harassment and were frightened by his unwanted attention.

‘I want to pay tribute to the courage of these women in coming forward and giving evidence in order to bring Ahmed to justice, particularly as he appears to have expected them to tolerate his unwarranted and unwelcome behaviour.

‘People need to realise they cannot expect their behaviour to be tolerated if it is causing offence and upset.’